


Cookie Dough Ice Cream

by RadiantMoth



Category: Groundhog Day - Minchin/Rubin
Genre: Fluff, Post-Loop, just absolute fluff, moments of mild angst, the idea was born bc i want phil connors to be HAPPY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 20:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16709647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadiantMoth/pseuds/RadiantMoth
Summary: Phil is probably the WORST impulse buyer.





	Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Days off were stressful, especially when Phil was alone.

Work usually kept him busy enough, and he'd been doing more with his co-workers, but the really problem presented when everyone was already busy, leaving Phil alone. _Theoretically_ he could go out and mingle with people. Make new friends. But…

Phil swallowed. Ever since the loop he had trouble remembering new faces, new names. So much of his time had been taken up in Punxsutawney that they always eventually faded into the people that he had seen for years on end. He didn't want to _insult_ anyone by accidentally calling them the wrong name or something. Maybe it'd get better one day, but for right now Phil was stuck in a cage built of social anxiety.

He huffed, flicking through channels on his TV. Rita would be by later for dinner with takeout, but that was hours and hours away and Phil was lonely. Really lonely. He hated being alone like this. Ah, fuck now he was going into repetitive thinking. 

He forced himself off the couch and wandered through the kitchen to dig through his cabinets for food. Maybe he could come up with some new recipe or some shit to keep himself entertained long enough until Rita got here. But if she was going to bring food then maybe he shouldn’t be cooking. Jesus, this was the _worst_. He needed to do something else. Phil glanced at the clock. Yea, he had time for a shopping trip before Rita got here.

He needed to go ask his landlord a quick question.

* * *

“Phil!” Rita called. “I got the takeout and-”

She let the door close behind her, taking in the scene laid out. Phil was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring intently across the room. Conversely, a cat sat in a position almost symmetrical to him. 

“What… what's happening here?” Rita asked.

“I got a cat.”

She blinked. “So that is _your_ cat. It didn't just sneak in?”

“Yea I went out and got her.”

“Why?”

“I was lonely.”

Rita set down the bags of take out and clasped her hands together. “You impulse bought a cat because you were lonely.”

Phil looked up at Rita. “Exactly.”

She sighed, and sat down next to Phil. To be fair, she was a very pretty cat, with white fur and tan spots. “What’s her name?”

“Cookie Dough Ice Cream.”

Rita buried her face in her hands. “I'm going to regret this but… _Why_?”

“I was hungry when I got her. And she looks like ice cream.”

“Is there a reason you two are starting at each other from across the room?”

Phil grimaced a bit. “I dunno. I think I used to do this with the cat I had when I was little.”

“Think?”

Now he started to look _really_ uncomfortable. “It's been a while, okay? He disappeared when I was pretty young.”

“Are you… Okay, Phil?” He looked at Rita as though her question had physically hurt him, which wasn't a good sign.

“Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?”

“You’ve just been pretty despondent lately. It’s kind of weird. And now you have a _cat_...”

“I’ll be fine, Rita,” Phil said firmly. “I just need some time.” He stood. “Let’s give Cookie some more time to explore while we eat dinner.”

It was happening again. That weird air of melancholy Phil sometimes got around him when Rita tried to check in with him. “Yea. I got your favorite, by the way.”

He disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Rita behind with Cookie. Pale eyes followed her across the room, like they were waiting for her to make the wrong move. She waved awkwardly and followed Phil

* * *

Rita had never seen Phil bond so quickly with a living thing before. Well, except maybe with Rita herself on that one Groundhog Day. 

Cookie followed Phil all over his apartment and draped herself across his shoulders or lap at any chance she got. However, she seemed to _hate_ Rita. When she was around, Cookie just sat and stared, almost unblinkingly.

“I think your cat hates me, Phil,” Rita said one day, trying to avoid eye contact with Cookie.

“What makes you say that?”

“She just _stares_ at me.” Rita shifted around uncomfortably. “It’s like she wants to kill me or something. She doesn’t even blink.”

Phil squinted. “What? Rita, have you ever had a cat? Or hung around one a lot?”

“No. Phil, you know about Stephen.”

He smiled, turning towards her. “Cats are people watchers. It’s just something they like to do. And they just don’t really need to blink all that much.”

“Well you’re just a cat language expert, aren’t you?” 

“Yea, well I dated this girl freshman year who had a cat. After mine disappeared I hung out a lot at her place. Took advantage of her for her cat.” He tapped his fingers against the couch. “Now I know I could make an inappropriate joke out of that but-”

Rita placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t.”

He nodded. “Yea. Yea, that’s what I was thinking.” Phil leaned back. “I think that was the last time I dated a girl for more than…” He blinked rapidly, clearing his throat. “Well, point is I don’t do that anymore. Better person, y’know?”

“I get it. I think we’re all better than the people we were in high school.”

“Yea, high school…” Phil got up and walked over to Cookie, arms held out like he was asking for a hug. She easily jumped into his arms and peered at Rita over his shoulder. The cat blinked once, very slowly.

Maybe Rita needed to read up more on cat behavior.

* * *

It was sweet to see Phil working so hard to take care of Cookie. He wasn’t really the guy to have children or anything, though he was basically treating her like his daughter. Rita sometimes stopped by with toys for her, slowly got used to the staring. To be fair, she didn’t shy away when Rita pet her. Cookie was a rather tactile cat, albeit mostly with Phil. Rita used to say she was a dog person.

But she was warming up to cats.

**Author's Note:**

> Give,,, phil a cat. Convert rita to being a cat person. This is the good timeline, trust me. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fluff monstrosity. Also, happy Thanksgiving!
> 
> Go check out my writing blog @lilac-lying
> 
> Comments allow me to not have to subside on morning dew and a single bay leaf.


End file.
